Chapter 23: Opening Act (Patreon)

‘Well, my introduction was blown out of the water with what All Might did.’ Izuku mused with a grin as he watched All Might enter through the door like a “normal” person. Chest out and body leaning into the room, with his hands tightly gripping the sides of the doorway.

It was one helluva entry.

The room fell silent as the students stared incredulously at the number 1 pro hero, but once he took a single step towards the teacher’s desk, they burst into action.

“Yooooo!! All Might’s our hero studies teacher!?” Eijiro fanboyed with his shark-teeth on full display.

“This is gonna be awesome!” Denki couldn’t suppress the smile from creeping up his face like an incoming tide. If one looked even closer, they could spot subtle sparks forming around his body.

“Spark plug, calm down a bit. My jacks are getting jitters.” Kyoka shivered slightly as a current of weak electricity jolted through her jacks and down her spine, courtesy of the lightning-themed student beside her.

“Oops, sorry.” Denki sheepishly scratched his cheek as he forcefully calmed his raging fanboy side.

“As expected from U.A., they really are serious about our education.” If Izuku squinted his eyes, he could see Tenya shedding a tear.

“AHAHAHAHAHA! NOW THEN, WELCOME TO HERO STUDIES, OR AS I’D LIKE TO CALL IT, HEROING 101.” All Might stopped right at the teacher’s desk and flashed the class his signature grin, his pearly whites glinting underneath the light. “AND OUR TOPIC FOR TODAY: COMBAT!”

All Might held out a card with a logo of a fist smack dab right in the center. This got the class to quiet down for a moment, before vigor brought their excitement right back up.

“Finally!” Katsuki grinned devilishly while smacking the palm of his hand with his fist.

“Uh… have to ask if this is safe… This is some advanced stuff…” Ochako weakly whispered while touching the tips of her index fingers.

“I’ll have to agree with Ochako-chan, kero.” Tsuyu placed a finger under her chin, not hearing Ochako blubbering like a fish while whispering “Ochako-chan” to herself.

Izuku was proud of his ears.

“Isn’t this a little too advanced for us, kero?” Tsuyu’s question silenced the class while All Might nodded approvingly at the frog girl.

“A good question, young Asui.” All Might placed the card back on the teacher’s desk before his voice boomed across the room once more. “AS HEROES, IT IS OUR DUTY TO ALWAYS BE READY IN CASE A DASTARDLY VILLAIN DECIDES TO CAUSE HAVOC AMONGST THE COMMON POPULACE. AS SUCH, COMBAT TRAINING HAS ALWAYS BEEN A STAPLE IN HERO CURRICULUM, AND HOW DO WE GET THE MOST RESULTS? SIMPLE! PIT YOU AGAINST EACH OTHER IN A CONTROLLED ENVIRONMENT WHERE ACCIDENTS ARE LESS LIKELY TO HAPPEN!”

Izuku could faintly hear Nezu’s cackling coming from his office. ‘RAT GOD made him say it, didn’t he?’

At least the rest of the class roared as they cheered for All Might.

“ONE LAST THING BEFORE WE START.” All Might grabbed a remote and clicked on a button. “WHAT SELF RESPECTING HERO DOESN’T HAVE THEIR OWN CUSTOM MADE COSTUME!?”

The wall just beside the board hissed and rotated once All Might tapped on the remote, showing lockers with numbers ranging from 1 - 20 painted on the front. Most of the students squealed, yes, even the boys, and nearly rushed for the lockers to lay their eyes on their costume.

“REMEMBER, LOOKING GOOD IS ALSO ONE FACTOR OF BEING A HERO. HOW ELSE CAN YOU CALM DOWN CIVILIANS IF ALL THEY SEE IS A GUY WEARING NORMAL CLOTHINGS? THEY MIGHT EVEN THINK YOU’RE VILLAINS, SUCH IS THE IMPORTANCE OF A HERO COSTUME.” All Might waves his right hand with his grin still on full display. “BUT NEVER FORGET PRACTICALITY. CAN’T SAVE SOMEONE IF YOU ARE UNDER-EQUIPPED, AFTER ALL. BUT ENOUGH OF THAT, MEET ME IN GROUND BETA ONCE YOU’RE ALL DONE CHANGING. WE’RE ON A CLOCK, SO PLEASE HURRY.”

And without another word, All Might zoomed away, leaving a dust trail behind. The students all stared wide-eyed at the trail of dust leading out of the room, before Eijiro yelled.

“That was so manly!” He was then followed by yelps and agreements from his other classmates.

While all that happened, Izuku quickly got his costume from the locker, and with nary a thought, stripped down all the way to his underwear to quickly get his costume on.

It was styled with his old gear in mind. Something in line with the Elite Armor set, mixed with Artorias’ blue fabric from his armor, creating an amalgamation of armor pieces.

The metal clanked and ground against each other in a cacophony of steel-induced sounds as they were dropped to the ground, and the padded leather consisting of his entire under-armor rested on the skin like smooth silk. Feeling the leather fit like a glove, Izuku got to work putting on the armor pieces, the heavy metal being strapped onto each other with leather belts and modern harnesses to make it even more reliable.

A few seconds later, Izuku was left with putting on his helmet, and he’s got to say, it felt nice to wear. Not too rough on the skin, not too heavy, and overall just plain nice to use.

It looked cool, but Izuku was certain this wouldn’t hold up against his old gear. After all, this costume/armor was made with modern materials devised and refined by man, but his old gear was made from divine materials and origins.

Maybe he should tone down his fighting with the armor on. A single full powered punch could probably mean a wrecked gauntlet. That, and a bloody pulp of a head on a man who was stupid enough to fight Izuku.

Can’t have Nezu breathing down his neck. No, that was a big no-no.

“Dude, you’re manly as heck.” Eijiro gaped as he stared at Izuku stripping and putting on the costume in record time. A quick look around and Izuku noticed some blushing coming from the girls, to which he was confused about.

“What?” His muffled voice behind the helmet sounded more mature, which caused the already blushing female teens to redden even more. Another glance around and Mina was giving him a mischievous smile… No, scratch that, she was giving him and the other girls the mischievous smile. “Seriously, what did I do?”

“… Bruh… I don’t know if you’re dense or if you’re just that innocent.” Denki facepalmed with Minoru nodding along with him, the grape-colored balls on his head swishing like dangling fruits.

Now it was Mina’s turn to frown. “You seriously don’t know?”

“No.” Izuku shook his head, and caused the acid girl to facepalm along with Denki.

“Dude, are you serious? I thought you were giving us a show on purpose.” Mina’s words caused some of the girls, most notably Ochako, to blush again. “Anyway, we need to hurry. I don’t want another lecture like Aizawa.”

At her words, the rest of the class moved into double time and quickly got their costumes, before zooming out of the room and into the changing rooms. Meanwhile, Izuku made his way towards Ground Beta while following his mental map.

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Izuku walked through the dim tunnel, his boots clinking and clunking with each and every step. It echoed through the winding passageway, creating a sense of discomfort within the chests of man.

Behind him, his classmates followed suit, the pack catching up to him while he was busy trying to map out the damn school grounds. Points for them, one of them knew where they were supposed to meet, to which Izuku gladly made her lead them.

This briefly reminded him of the times those friendly summons would help guide him through unfamiliar lands. Sure, it caused invaders to come right at him during this, but it was a small price to pay to map out an entire region full of deadly traps and monsters.

One complaint he had was they couldn’t talk to each other. They could, however, make gestures. It nearly made him snort when he remembered an invader that got stabbed through the chest and drop to the ground dead, only for the friendly summon to point down at his corpse like it was a waste of mass and flesh.

Good times.

"Damn, Midobro. You look manly!” Eijiro rushed up to him with stars in his eyes. “So badass!”

“I know right?” Denki responded just right behind him, a smile that looked like it belonged on a kid inside a toy store hovering on his face. “He looks like a fantasy knight! Like those from the D&D series!”

“Dude, I have the latest game just at home. Want me to bring it here, do a bit of campaigning during breaks?” Minoru piped up, his head reaching up to about stomach height of the fully suited Izuku.

“That would be awesome!” Eijiro whooped with a giant grin on his face.

“Can I join?” Izuku turned his head to look at the midget, his feet not stopping as the whole group continued on regardless of their small talk.

“Sure, can’t play the game without players.” Minoru shrugged before he grinned sultrily at the girls. “You all can come play too, if you want.”

“No thanks, kero.” Tsuyu quickly responded with her eyes still focused on Izuku’s back. “Have to wonder, Izu-chan, isn’t that heavy, kero?”

“Not really.” To give a good example, Izuku hopped around in his full armor set, the various pieces of metal clunking around as they jiggled and shifted. “Armors like these are made to be as non-obstructing to the user as possible. How else can someone point the pointy edge of a sword at the enemy if they can’t even move right?”

“… Point taken, kero.” Tsuyu nodded and went silent, but not before noticing the various stares she got from the class for what she called the armored teen. “Also, call me Tsu.”

“Alright, Tsu.” Izuku didn’t hesitate and this time the stares were directed at him.

“It should’ve been me! Not him, me!” Minoru’s cries went unheard as the rest of the class continued on through the winding passageway.

A few minutes later and finally, the light at the end of the tunnel grew larger, before it encompassed their entire group, some of the students raising their hands to block the sun from burning their eyes.

“YOU’RE ALL HERE, AND LOOKING PRETTY COOL!” All Might greeted them just at the end, his massive figure a contrast to the giant wall behind him. “TAKE NOTE OF THIS CLASS, WHEN A HERO WEARS A COSTUME, IT IS THEIR DUTY TO MAKE SURE THE INNOCENTS FEEL SAFE IN THEIR PRESENCE. AND WHEN I SAW ALL OF YOU WALK OUT OF THE TUNNEL, I CAN PROUDLY SAY, YOU ALL HAVE WHAT IT TAKES TO BE A HERO!”

All Might raised a fist in the air, which was followed by the class as they roared to the high heavens. The giant blond then lowered his fist to grab a clipboard hanging on his waist.

“NOW, SHALL WE GET STARTED, YOU ZYGOTES!?” All Might’s grin turned a few shades excited, and a tiny bit darker, which kind of scared the students.

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“But master, what about our plans!?” A young man with cerulean shaggy hair rasped as he stared at the television hanging from the ceiling showing a title card of “Audio Only”.

“Patience, Tomura. It just so happens that our plans have been slightly altered due to the meddling of one rat.” All For One’s voice held enough venom that if a lesser person were to hear it, they would just keel over on the spot while foaming in the mouth. “Take it as an extended time to bolster your troops, maybe even grab some exceptional ones as your personal guards.”

“I understand, master.” Tomura acquiesced to the benevolent tone of his master in a heartbeat, his head bowed low as he stared into the drink sloshing about inside the glass in his hand. “Will our weapon be ready then?”

“The time from this delay will make them even more deadly, this I assure you, Tomura.” All For One chuckled, the television’s speaker making it sound a little distorted than normal. “Enough to kill your enemy.”

“Enough to kill the Symbol of Peace.” Tomura cackled and gulped down his drink. “Ugh, Kurogiri, more.”

“As you wish, Shigaraki Tomura.” A mist-like entity wearing a formal suit and tie grabbed a bottle from the shelves and refilled the glass sitting pretty on the counter, the ice resting at the bottom of the glass floating upwards as the brown liquid sloshed about.

“It won’t be long now.” Tomura grinned as he gulped down another glass, mindful to keep one of his fingers off lest he turn it into dust, like all those before it. “All Might… I will destroy you…”